Russkit ad from the '60s. This was possibly one of the first trigger controllers available.
Vintage Russkit controller ad
Re: Vintage Russkit controller ad
That Russkit controller looks a lot like the high performance Scalextric black 'Race Tuned' hand controllers we used to have, a long time ago. I believe they came in 15 and 25 ohm resistance versions.
Re: Vintage Russkit controller ad
I remember those race-tuned controllers well. We used to change the resistor for the faster motors of the day and we would also re-wire them with thicker wiring to try to get as much power to the cars as possible. Here's a picture I took back around 1966 in my brother Geoffrey's and my bedroom on Christmas Eve. Geoffrey is the one standing wearing glasses and four of my cousins are there as well. My cousin Eric is holding a race-tuned controller in an unorthodox manner, using his thumb to control the throttle. The table next to him was my slot car work bench at the time and the red car on the track was my first cobra, a Scalextric race-tuned model, repainted red with a yellow central stripe.
Here's what the controllers and their packaging looked like:
Here's what the controllers and their packaging looked like: